BENGALURU: Bhuvneshwar Kumar once again came to the fore and swung India to a 49-run win over England in the 2nd T20I at Edgbaston on Saturday.
The ace swing-bowler prised out England skipper Jos Buttler and Jason Roy in his first spell to derail their 171-run chase. On the whole, he snaffled three wickets for just 15 runs in 3 overs.
With this win, the visitors have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. India had won the first T20I at Southampton by 50 runs.
Chasing 171, the hosts could not recover from early jolts and were bowled out for 121 in just 171 overs. Only Moeen Ali and David Willey exhibited a semblance of resolve as they scored 35 and 33 respectively but that was not enough.
At no stage did England look in the hunt after conceding 170 runs in 20 overs. Apart from Bhuvneshwar, Jasprit Bumrah and the leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal chalked up two wickets each.
Earlier, the debutant Richard Gleeson rose to the occasion and decimated India’s much-vaunted batting line-up before Ravindra Jadeja’s brisk cameo helped India post 170 for eight.
The hosts opted to bowl first and in the first over Jason Roy gave a lifeline to Indian skipper Rohit Sharma as he dropped a simple catch at point in the first over. The left-arm medium-pacer Willey was the unfortunate bowler.
Rohit made terrific use of the reprieve as he cracked three boundaries and two huge sixes before he fell in the fifth over for 31. The right-hander attempted to swat him away but the inside edge went to the wicketkeeper Buttler as Gleeson drew the first blood.
Gleeson nipped out Virat Kohli for 1 and Rishabh Pant in his next over and nullified the robust start made by the visitors. Chris Jordan also infused zip in his bowling as he also snaffled four wickets – Hardik Pandya, Harshal Patel, Suryakumar Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
But Ravindra Jadeja stepped up and thumped an unbeaten 46 to lift India to 170-8 in 20 overs. The all-rounder smashed five boundaries in his 29-ball cameo.
The third T20I will be played at Old Trafford on Sunday. The T20I series will be followed by the three ODIs.